Israeli FM: Don't let Obama impose 'peace'

Monday, October 04, 2010 |
Ryan Jones

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday said he recently learned from reliable sources in the US that the Obama Administration is planning to impose a “peace” settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in the coming months.

In a meeting with other members of his Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) Knesset party, Lieberman warned that US President Barack Obama’s proposal that Israel extend its Jewish building freeze for another two months in exchange for certain diplomatic promises must be rejected by the cabinet.

According to Lieberman, those two months would “give the US and the international community two months to come up with a solution that will be forced on Israel.”

The foreign minister was in the US late last month to address the United Nations General Assembly. During the visit, Lieberman said he “learned that Washington is planning to force a permanent agreement on Israel – two states for two peoples along the 1967 borders, plus-minus 3 or 4% of the territory exchanged.”

Lieberman said the officials he spoke to informed him that if Israel did not accept the imposed peace deal, it would lead to “a confrontation with the international community.”

In light of the danger, Lieberman said his party has no intention of leaving the ruling coalition, as some media outlets have suggested, and will instead strengthen the right-wing elements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to ensure Obama’s plans do not come to fruition.

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